The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office has seized 70 domains used to scam the Russian community. The scam involved deceptive Facebook ads featuring a deepfake of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Over 20 Brooklyn residents and additional victims nationwide lost a total of $5 million.
70 Crypto Scam Domains Seized
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday that its Virtual Currency Unit “successfully disrupted a cryptocurrency scam operation that targeted members of the Russian community.” The announcement details:
The victims were lured into making what turned out to be bogus investments by responding to Facebook ads about investment opportunities then getting a call from a purported investment advisor, who spoke in Russian and guided them into making cryptocurrency transactions on what were actually bogus websites.
“The investigation identified over 20 Brooklyn investors who lost over $1 million and additional victims from across the United States who lost an additional $4 million combined. The cluster of 70 linked domains have now been taken offline,” the announcement adds.
These scam ads often featured a deepfake of Elon Musk promoting cryptocurrency investments, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office detailed, adding that victims were contacted by “investment advisors” who spoke Russian and guided them through setting up accounts on fraudulent websites. After transferring funds, these victims found themselves locked out of their accounts or burdened with additional fees.
The announcement notes:
It is believed that the sites originated from Russia and the scammers were speaking in Russian as a way to ingratiate themselves to the victims and build trust.
“Because Russia is outside U.S. jurisdiction, recovering any stolen funds is extremely difficult and therefore, the DA’s Office strategy has been to disrupt the scam by taking control of the fake websites,” the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office stated.
What do you think about this crypto scam targeting Russians in the U.S.? Let us know in the comments section below.